UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.—Sophomore forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) and fifth-year senior guard Ashley Hunter (Flossmoor, Illinois) combined for 34 points and five three-pointers as University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball held on for a 65-64 Midwest Region road win over previously unbeaten Saginaw Valley State University Saturday afternoon.
Raley scored 10 of her game and career-high 18 points in the second half and the Screaming Eagles’ defense held their ground in the final seven seconds of the contest as USI secured its second win over a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent this week.
USI saw a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter slip away as the Cardinals used a 10-2 run to get to within a point with five minutes to play in the game.
The Eagles led 60-59 when Hunter drained one of her two three-pointers to give USI a four-point lead with 3:30 to play. A minute later, it was junior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) who scored to give USI a 65-59 edge.
Senior guard Maddie Maloney, who had 13 points in the loss for Saginaw, hit a three-pointer with less than two minutes to play to cut USI’s lead in half. After a pair of empty possessions for the Eagles, Saginaw senior center Kendall Spires scored with just over 30 seconds left on the clock to, once again, cut USI’s lead to a single digit.
USI had a chance to extend that advantage, but senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) could not get her layup to fall through the hoop as Spires corralled the rebound to give Saginaw a chance to win the game in the final seven seconds.
The Eagles’ defense, however, came through as Saginaw junior guard Kaitlyn Zarycki stepped out of bounds, giving the Eagles the ball back with a second to play and the opportunity to run the clock out with a successful inbounds pass.
In addition to Raley, who had five rebounds, and Hunter, who finished with 16 points, USI got 12 points from Haithcock as well as six points and a career-high seven assists from junior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana).
DeHart finished with five points, three assists and four steals, while senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) had six points and a team-high six rebounds.
Zarycki, who had six assists, five steals and three blocks, matched junior guard Tyler Scheid’s 14 points to lead the Cardinals. Scheid had a team-high six rebounds.
USI returns to action Wednesday at 1 p.m. when it hosts preseason No. 8 Ashland University at Screaming Eagles Arena.
